Signal Hill Patients Access PAC today unveiled amended ballot measure language to permit medical cannabis in the heart of Long Beach by regulating medical cannabis with new sections featuring a labor peace agreement provision and onsite consumption of medical cannabis permission. In addition, the amended ballot measure language also includes sections for “Energy Offsets encouraged” and a residential permission provision that permits cultivation by right in the city with no need for any type of official permit from the municipal government. The measure or the law is file number two attached. The initiative will create new revenue for the Signal Hill general fund, police department, and schools. In addition, hundreds of temporary and permanent jobs for local residents will be created, generating tens of thousands of dollars in annual revenue for the city.

The Law Office of Matthew Pappas is representing Signal Hill Patients Access PAC. The Law Office of Matthew Pappas traditionally has strictly challenged the status quo on medical cannabis in the courtroom. The Law Office of Matthew Pappas is now offering political action as a remedy for clients woes for clients in Shasta, Tehama, Los Angeles, Orange, and Sacramento counties using civic engagement, ballot measures, and recalls. Working with Mr. Pappas’s office is Jason Aula, Signal Hill Patients Access PAC Political Strategist . He says: “This is a prime chance for Signal Hill to lead the way on patient access and set municipal precedent across the state. Consider now that Signal Hill had an oil rush around 100 years ago. We set precedents for the nascent oil industry then, and now the modern rush of patients to cure their illnesses with medical marijuana has come and we should help set precedents for them!”

There was speculation last week that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration might be on the verge of downgrading the Schedule I classification of the cannabis plant. Unfortunately, the end result proved the implications behind the rumors were somewhat overstated, as the agency simply moved to ease the restrictions surrounding one of the herb’s most infamous non-intoxicating compounds in an effort to abridge the research process for Big Pharma.

Last Wednesday, Tom Angell with the Marijuana Majority revealed that he had obtained a letter from Congressman Earl Blumenauer that suggested the Food and Drug Administration and DEA were finally working together to reclassify marijuana under federal law. Although the details were vague,the document, which was sent to Blumenauer by the Justice Department, clearly states that the “DEA is currently reviewing two petitions to reschedule marijuana in accordance with the [Controlled Substances Act].”

The news of this development generated a great deal of excitement in marijuana advocates across the nation. The consensus was that regardless of how small the reform, if the federal government did finally decide to change the Schedule I status of the cannabis plant, it would be a big step in the right direction. An article published in SF Weekly suggested, “The drug is in a good position in Schedule I” because “there’s nowhere to go but down.”